solar power

This solar rooftop in Saudi Arabia, shown here during construction, is now complete and connected to the grid. (Image via Flickr) The world’s largest oil producer is now generating electricity from the sun. Saudi Arabia’s National Solar Systems (NSS) and Conergy, a German-based solar consortium, last week announced the completion of a solar park on […]

Is the sun setting on Israel’s plans to build solar power plants at Ashelim in the Negev Desert? (image via inisrael.com) Clal Industries and BrightSource Industries are the latest companies to drop out of the competition to build two solar energy plants at Ashelim, in Israel’s Negev desert. The $1 billion tender to supply some […]

At the MENASOL conference in Cairo last week, MENA Cleantech’s Samer Zureikat cited this 11th century scientist, Ibn al-Haytham, as one of the forefathers of solar technology. (Image via orientpix.com) I was sitting behind Samer Zureikat, the CEO of MENA Cleantech, at the MENASOL solar energy conference in Cairo last week when one of the […]

The CEO of Jordan’s EDAMA organization, Nasser Majali. (Photo by author) Nasser Majali, the CEO of Amman-based EDAMA – an NGO working to promote energy, water and environment projects in Jordan – was not listed as one of the scheduled speakers at the MENASOL solar energy conference in Cairo this week. However, given just a […]

Not yet swords into plowshares, as depicted in this sculpture at the UN, but the Israel Air Force is embarking on a solar power campaign. Unfortunately, the Green Prophet cannot report that the nations of the Middle East are beating their swords into plowshares (as another prophet once envisioned), but there is some good news […]

No green “juice” for your Better Place electric car? Energy expert says Israel’s infrastructure will never be able to fulfil renewable energy goals. Thinking about buying an electric car like ones being promoted by Shai Agasi’s Better Place? Following my test drive of one of their Renault Fluence ZE Concept cars it turns out that […]

Get your kids to build tomorrow’s solar power plant or wind turbine, with LEGO. LEGO, makers of timeless bricks of wonder, continue their welcome advance into the classroom with the new Renewable Energy Set. The new set lets students experiment with using energy from their own bodies and the three main energy sources – solar, […]

Israeli solar energy innovator Sunday Energy has been chosen to construct a solar energy panel array in a section of the country’s Negev desert region, according to an article in Globes financial news. The 5 mw installation will be constructed together with Moshav Yad Natan in a 120 dunam (42.5 acre) area where the land […]

Kibbutz Zeelim from Google Earth. “Solarized” water reservoir located top left hand corner. Sunday Energy, a PV solar integrator from Israel, who we’ve covered here (Every Sunny Day Is Like Sunday), is about to install a 5 MW PV facility on a water reservoir in an Israeli kibbutz, the business newspaper Globes report. The company […]

This past weekend I traveled to historic Madaba, Jordan at the first Middle East Green Bloggers Conference. Among this inspiring collection of environmental writers, professionals, and activists, I’ve just met a trio of Jordanian young innovators bringing a special variety of “thin film” technology to the Middle East. Zein Nsheiwat, Sawsan Issa, and Osama Suliman […]

Picture an African village at night. It is completely dark. Look at the continent of Europe above (pictured left); and Africa below. Notice a stark difference? In Africa, village children struggle to study and complete their homework by candlelight. The medical clinics are closed. Emergency surgeries and nighttime births are performed by the light of […]

Aora fires up its “sun” flower in the desert. But Israel is not doing enough for itself, says UN. Despite successful companies like Solel and BrightSource, Israel itself is not producing enough power from solar energy, says Cristophe Bouvier, the regional director for Europe at the UN Environment Program, who recently summoned an Israeli delegate […]

TAU’s nanosized “forest of peptides” can be used as the basis for self-cleaning windows and more efficient batteries. It’s cleaning up space junk, and is giving us lab-on-chip biofilters for detecting contamination. Now nanotechnology has produced a coating for windows or solar panels that repels grime and dirt. Expanded battery storage capacities for the next […]

Captsone’s microturbine could be fired up by solar power in new project with Heliofocus. California based Capstone Turbine Corporation (NASDAQ:CPST) and Israel based HelioFocus Ltd, have entered into an agreement to develop a micro-turbine to produce power from concentrated solar energy. The project is being funded in part with a $800,000 grant from the B.I.R.D Foundation, […]

Appearing on CNBC, serial entrepreneur Jon Medved mentions the thousand or so clean tech start-ups in Israel. He’s also talking about the tried tested and true clean tech companies: In geothermal energy, the largest in the world is Israel’s Ormat (ORA) which trades on the NASDAQ. Medved discusses the solar companies Solel and BrightSource. Solel […]

Artistic rendition of the Timna Renewable energy park In Eilat During a speech at the recent 2009 Israel Presidents Conference, Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that Israel is embarking on programs to enable it to be almost entirely reliant on alternative energy systems by the year 2020. This plan, which many people see as more of […]

BrightSource solar energy company could be part of the alternative energy solution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be interested in leading his country away from its current dependence on imported oil and into various forms of alternative energy. But he wants his vision to go far beyond the borders of the tiny State […]

During the week of October 25, 2009, SolarEdge announced it raised $23 million in funding from General Electric (GE) and other investors. The deal was identified by BusinessWeek as one of the signs that Israel can become a leader in renewable energy. Sunday Energy and Ormat are collaborating on a solar energy project in Israel […]

With a $23 million investment, SolarEdge takes PV systems to the next level of efficiency. GE just invested in them. Now, Guy Sella, founder and CEO of Israeli company SolarEdge, is planning a revolution. Don’t be alarmed though, this one isn’t dangerous. His goal is to transform the way photovoltaic systems are now operated, in […]

They are on investors’ hit lists and the green tech media is keen to monitor their progress. Key policy makers from the United States urge them on. Israeli solar technology innovators are channelling and shaping the sun’s energy and breaking the world’s dependence on oil. With organizations like the Cleantech Group, an international business development […]

The first green, affordable home designed by an Israeli company has just come off the production line in the Negev town of Yeruham. Following years of planning and design by REAL Housing, the 190 m2 house was inaugurated by Mayor of Yeruham and former Labour Party leader, Amram Mitzna. The three-room, NIS 785,000 house (about […]

China company enlisted to fuel the hungry demand for solar power installations in Israel. Although Israel is considered to be a leader in the field of solar energy, it still does not have enough local production to make the solar panels that are used in these solar energy projects. To fulfill the demand, a well […]

Model of the Israel pavilion that focuses on energy for upcoming World Expo in China. Israel plans on building a special country-shaped pavilion for the 2010 World Exposition, scheduled to open on May 1 next year in the Chinese city of Shanghai. The six month “world’s fair” will be based on ways to improve the […]

Israeli Bedouin go back to the green roots they’ve always had. Sometimes, when an irresistible force meets an immovable object – like when the government decides to go through with a development plan in a certain area, despite the objections of local residents – you get a “big bang.” But in Israel’s Negev desert, an […]